A Cosplayer Is Running For Office In Arizona

Share:

Cara Nicole Trujillo has earned great notoriety for bringing the super-heroine Power Girl to life through her cosplay at countless comic cons. But look closer at her professional alias, “Az Powergirl.” You’ll notice she quite literally puts her home state ahead of her favorite character, so her newest endeavor actually shouldn’t be surprising. “Truth, justice, and the American way,” is traditionally a Superman motto, and now, Cara’s trying to realize that too (with a heavy emphasis on the last part). She’s running for Arizona’s House of Representatives.

This isn’t a publicity stunt. Cara’s campaigning for a position in Legislative District 26 this November. And to all who question a cosplayer’s suitability for office, she’s already offered a cogent rebuttal in an interview with Bleeding Cool.

“Complaining about my cosplay is a weak argument. The news sources that tried to use cosplay against me have had a lot of their audience stand up for me and remind them that this is 2016 and we have gotten past a lot of the sexism of earlier decades… it’s a mistake and very reductive to take someone less seriously because of cosplay. I could give you a long list of police officers, firemen, nurses, active duty service men and yes, even politicians who cosplay.”

This isn’t the first time Cara has been involved in community concerns, either. She started cosplaying by making appearances at children’s hospitals and fundraisers, not conventions. And for the past three years, she’s been doing legislative work in family law. Indeed, it was her desire for family law reform in Arizona that initially motivated this bid for office. She goes into great detail about her positions on topics like health care and education funding in an interview with Heavy Metal, and is keen to stress she’s running under the Green Party as an independent alternative for voters tired of the usual red/blue partisanship.